Spells
by Qrestine-Vine
Summary: To save Sesshoumaru's life kagome cast a spell recklessly, now she's bound to him. if kagome dies so does Sess, determined not to let his enemies use kagome to kill him, sesshy's gonna train kagome...AU R n R!
1. Default Chapter

**Basic background**: The lands in the feudal era have been divided into four parts, the North, the South, the East, and the West. Powerful lords rule each of the lands, and the land has been peaceful and prosperous, until Naraku became heir to his late father's throne…Naraku is a cold and heartless man, and he is also very greedy. He would stop at nothing to gain more power and wealth. His wife-Kanna is well known throughout the lands to be a ruthless and merciless woman, the reunion of the two brought about two daughters, Kikyou and Kagura. Both of which have been trained since young to be great warriors of the dark arts (courtesy of Ursuae their teacher), who in the near future would be a great asset in their father's plans to dominate all the kingdoms. Naraku through many years, have succeeded in poisoning the girls' minds into thinking that his plans are for the good of everyone, besides, his daughters never dared to defy their father, as defiance always led to cruel punishments. As the children of the Northern lands grew up in such harsh conditions and rigorous training, the princes in the West are also undergoing training of their own too. (Basically physical training on arm combat) Lord Taisho, ruler of the Western lands is a strong and forbidding man, and he is very strict when it comes to disciplining his sons-Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. Their mother however, is a kind and gentle creature, which in some ways, balances the harsh and somewhat cold nature of their father. Now, in the Eastern lands, Kaeda oversees it, ever since the death of her husband. Souta would rightfully become the new ruler, if he hadn't been too young to step up to the throne and undertake the responsibilities of running the kingdom. Souta's older sister Kagome leads a pretty much-sheltered life, she was taught the basic subjects by her tutors, and Kaede occasionally would teach her how to use her miko powers when she is free. In the Southern lands, everything is pretty mysterious, all is known is that the new ruler is Kouga, and that is all. Now, somewhere along the line it seems, there are a few run-ins between the lord of the North and the West, and the land that lies in the Northwest is the last straw that led to the actual eruption of war between the two kingdoms. Of course Lord Taisho tried to evade the war, but Naraku is just begging for it, in fact Naraku view the battle as his first step to conquering the whole land.

Northern kingdom 

Naraku is at his desk, viewing through the most recent report of the battle with the West. He glanced through the report, and the smile instantly faded from his lips. 'My troops have failed?' After three wins, Naraku is now faced with defeat. 'Well, they may have won this battle, but they will never win the war…'Naraku reassured himself. 'After all, if things turn nasty, I could always send my special weapons-Kikyou and Kagura…but for now…I shall wait…'

Eastern kingdom 

"Your highness, I believe it will be wise for you to marry princess Kagome to lord Kouga, as the marriage will tie our two kingdoms together and make us a stronger power." The advisor said.

"I know that, but, I do not wish to force Kagome into the marriage…" Kaede said.

" But one must think of the kingdom first, with the war going on between the North and the West, I fear that the brute Naraku would attack our small kingdom soon, and given our weak army, we would be bound for defeat, unless… the princess marries Lord Kouga."

"Well… that is true, but…"

"I know you are concern for the princess's happiness, but Lord Kouga is a nice guy, a real gentleman too, you've met him before, I am certain the princess would grow to love him."

"Kouga indeed is quite a nice fellow, but Kagome does not seem to like him… whenever I brought him up, she will try to change the subject."

"She will change her mind when she gets to know him better."

"Very well, I shall leave you to arrange this marriage."

'I just hope that Kagome would understand…'

While all this is taking place in the study, Kagome is out in the garden with her loyal servant and best friend-Sango.

'I love this garden, it never fails to lift my spirits… how I wish things could remain this way forever' Kagome sighed. Sango noticed her best friend's silence, and she started to prod.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

"…"

"Hello, anyone in there?" Sango said, waving her hand in front of Kagome's face, and effectively bringing her out of her daze.

"Huh? Sorry, did you say something?"

"What's wrong? You've been staring into space for the past fifteen minutes. Is something bothering you? It's about the marriage to Lord Kouga again right?

Kagome merely nodded.

"He seems like a likable guy, why won't you accept him? You might like him you know?"

"I wish, but I just don't feel that way about him…I know he's nice and all, but…"

"Well… you could always keep you fingers crossed, and hope that your mother would not agree to the marriage."

"Thanks… I think."

"Anyway, if you are really against marrying him, you could tell your mother, she will understand."

"Understand? She's not as understanding these days… it's all about the kingdom this and the kingdom that… I wish father never passed away, that way she would not have to deal with the responsibilities… and father would have found a better solution to whatever problems there are without promising my hand in marriage to a Lord…"

"You should think about the kingdom too you know, you have led a good life so far, and all that you want you get. You are very lucky compared to many others."

"So does that mean I have to give up my life's happiness? And are you implying that I am a prim and proper little princess! So much for being friends!" Kagome spat out.

"Hey, hey, cool it will ya, don't go venting your anger on me… anyway… you are quite the little princess you know. In fact, I can't even be sure if you could survive a day outside the castle walls…" Sango teased.

"Why y-you…" Kagome sputtered, and then fled back to her room, leaving a stunned Sango there.

Western kingdom 

Sesshoumaru stood silently at a corner of the library, while Lord Taisho read his report of the battle. The stoic man nodded his approval.

"Well done my son, you have proven that your training have not been in vain."

Sesshoumaru nodded, his father is a very honorable man, and he holds him in high respect, and receiving his father's praise made him all the more determined to do a better job next time. He was pleased, however, his facial expression showed utterly no emotion as he left the room.

As Sesshoumaru was making his way back to his room, a happy Rin (his ward) bounded towards him.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, where have you been? Rin misses you. But now that you are back, Rin is happy again!" Rin said all that in a rush, as she danced around Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru patted the little girl's head, and sent her off to bed, before retiring to his chambers for the night.

Eastern kingdom 

"A prim and proper little princess eh?" Kagome muttered, as she pushed open the double doors to her bedroom. 'I'll show her yet!' she thought darkly, as she flung herself forcefully onto the sea of pillows on her bed. 'I am not some weak and fragile thing…I am a miko! Although I have not been very well trained in that aspect, but I will survive. I surely can defend myself, and even perform some basic healing, if I ever was to get injured…'

"Knock! Knock!"

The noise started Kagome out of her train of thoughts, and she barely had time to sit up on her bed when the doors are pushed opened. Kaede swept elegantly into the room, and sat herself down beside Kagome. They sat there for a while, watching each other in silence. Finally, Kagome broke the silence with a light cough.

"What brings you here mother?"

Kaede paused as if contemplating the question, 'how should I break the news to Kagome gently.'

"So?" Kagome asked, getting impatient.

"Well, it's about Kouga… you will be marrying him in a week." Kaede said, as she steeled herself for the bout of screaming that is bound to follow.

The news hit Kagome like a ton of bricks, although she had prepared herself for this situation, the confirmation of her fate by her mother had nevertheless dealt a heavy blow to her heart. 'How could she do this to me, her own flesh and blood nonetheless!' Kagome shook with anger, tears of frustration threatening to spill forth.

"How could you do such a thing? How could you promise my hand in marriage to Him behind my back?" Kagome ground out, as she struggled to keep her tempers in check, which is proving to be more and more difficult by the minute.

"Kagome…try and understand…" Kaede said, with pain in her eyes.

"I do not want to understand!" Kagome screamed.

"Lord Kouga is a nice guy, you will be happy with him."

"Don't tell me what I will and will not do… you are not me! You won't understand how I feel! If you like him so much, why don't you marry him yourself!" Kagome bit out vehemently.

"Kagome…" Kaede warned.

"Don't Kagome me…you are the worst mother, and I HATE you!" Kagome burst out before she could stop herself. She knew her words stung, but it is too late to take back what she just said.

Her words struck a cord. "Young lady, that is no way to speak to your birth mother!"

"…" Kagome turned away from her mother, refusing to meet her gaze.

"You will marry Lord Kouga, and that is final." Kaede said flatly, before turning to go back to her study. 'That child is getting more rebellious. She will learn her place when she marries Kouga! It is for the best!'

When Kaede is out of the room, tears immediately flooded Kagome's eyes, blurring her vision. 'Why? Why am I so cursed?' Kagome thought, as she fingered her raven locks forlornly. She knew her fate is sealed, and all hopes of freedom were crushed in that instant. 'Have I lost my right to choose when I am born a princess?' "Perhaps…" she whispered to herself, as she looked at the bright full moon hanging outside her window. 'Such a beautiful night…a night for lovers… too bad I will never get the chance to meet my prince charming, I will be marrying Kouga soon…' that single thought brought forth a fresh round of tears, and Kagome had to bury her head in her pillow to muffle the sound of the heart-wrenching sobs that raked through her entire being.

For the next few days, Kagome was caught up in the buzz of preparation for her up-coming marriage. Servants constantly interrupted her peace and privacy, as they barged in and out of her room to take her measurements for the wedding gowns, or present her with some gift or another from the dreaded Lord Kouga. Kagome sulked through the entire process, and tried to be as uncooperative as possible. Her signature smile had been replaced with a deep scowl that creased her delicate features. During her meals at the dinning room with her mother and brother, Kagome stubbornly refuse to look at or speak to her mother. She only acknowledged Souta's presence, and is only willing to converse with him. Souta could sense her sister's distress at having to marry Lord Kouga, but he could do nothing about it, all that he could do is to lend Kagome his ears, as she pours out her grievances to him.

That day, after dinner, Souta escorted Kagome back to her room, and he took up his usual spot at the end of her bed to listen once again to her complains.

"I can't believe I have to marry Kouga in two days time." Kagome sighed.

"Do you really hate marrying Kouga that much?" Souta ventured.

"Are you kidding? I would do anything to be rid of this marriage!" Kagome cried.

"Well… I may have a simple solution to your woes…" Souta began uncertainly.

"Nani!" Kagome asked hopefully.

"Tell me the solution! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Umm… you could just run away…although mother would be furious with you…"

"Run away… Why didn't I think of this before? It is so simple! Souta, you're a genius!"

Kagome smiled, hugging her brother tightly.

"Baka…it's nothing, if you hadn't been so caught up in your 'It's the end' crap, you would have seen it."

"Why you little…" Kagome gritted out, before hitting the backside of his head.

"You sure know how to show your savior your gratitude…" Souta grumbled, as he rubbed the back of his head.

"But, before you get uppity about escaping, you should know that it is dangerous for a girl to be out in the

wild… Although you are a miko, it does not mean that survival out there would be a breeze for you, not to mention the fact that there is a war going on out there..."

"You worried about me little brother?" Kagome asked, a warm smile gracing her face.

Northern kingdom 

"Kikyou, my dear daughter…" Naraku smirked.

"Yes father, you require my presence here for?" Kikyou inquired, bowing low.

"As you know, our enemies have won yet another victory under Taisho's eldest son's command…" Naraku began.

"That son of his is Sesshoumaru is he not?" Kikyou queried

"Yes… a formidable foe he is indeed… therefore I shall require your skills to lead the next troop in the approaching battle…"

"I shall await your victory."

"Yes father." Kikyou said bowing low, before leaving the library to prepare for her battle.

Kikyou went to the weaponry room to retrieve her prized silver bow and arrows, and ordered her servants to bring her her combat suit. She changed into the snowy white suit completed with her spiked armor, before securing her long flowing hair with a simple white ribbon. 'I'm ready…' With that she glided through the gates to her awaiting horse and troops. With a slight wave of her hand, the troops followed her lead to the battlegrounds.

Western kingdom 

"Sesshoumaru-sama, wait for me Sessho…" Jaken cried, as he hurried to keep up with Sesshoumaru's pace.

"What is it Jaken." Sesshoumaru stated, as he continued toward his library.

"It's Rin…" Jaken panted.

Sesshoumaru came to an abrupt stop, causing Jaken to come crashing to his feet.

"Gomen Sesshoumaru-sama…gomen gomen…" Jaken cried frightfully, as he bowed repeatedly.

"What about Rin."

"Gomen…gomen…Sessh-…"

"Jaken…"

"It appears that Rin is sick my lord…"

"…"

Sesshoumaru suddenly veered to the right, changing course to Rin's bedroom instead. Worry was evident in his eyes, although his facial features betrayed none of that anxiety.

'Rin…she has never fallen sick before... so why now?' Sesshoumaru thought. With that he entered Rin's chambers, only to find the usually cheerful little girl lying in bed with beads of sweat on her forehead. Her eyebrows were creased together as though she was in pain, and she whimpered ever so softly. Sesshoumaru swept to Rin's bedside, and felt her forehead. 'Hot. She's burning up'

"Jaken, send for the healer."

"Ye-yes, my lord" Jaken cried, hurrying out of the room.

Jaken was back in an eye blink, and with him was a neko youkai.

"Hiyoma at your service my Lord, how may I help?" the neko youkai said, bowing low.

"The girl." Sesshoumaru said, his eyes motioning towards Rin.

Hiyoma nodded in understanding, and hurried over to Rin's side, he conducted a few basic tests on the girl, his brow furrowing in worry with each test he conducted.

"Well." Sesshomaru said.

"This does not brood well for the girl…I'm afraid she is under some kind of spell. However, I am unable to determine the nature of the spell, so until I can figure it out, there is visibly nothing I can do…except to give her some medicinal herbs to bring her fever down…"

Upon hearing the news, Sesshoumaru frowned.

"You will find the cure, and if you are to fail…I shall have your hide…" Sesshoumaru growled, with that, he left the room.

Eastern Kingdom

Kagome sat in her room beside her dressing table, scissors poised over her long raven mane, 'just cut it off Kagome, a quick snip and you'll be free.' Taking a deep breath, Kagome tried once again to cut off her hair, only to draw back at the last minute.

"Damn! I can't bring myself to cut it!" Kagome cursed.

"Well…it's ok for guys to have long hair you know…" Sango started, "but, it's just too bad that you look so feminine…so I guess you'll have to cut it off after all." Sango sniggered. (Kagome had told Sango of her plans to runaway earlier, after all, they are best friends.)

"Hey! That's very helpful of you…I'll like to see you cut off that pony tail of yours." Kagome pouted.

"Alright, alright…no need to get all banged up over it." Sango said, raising her hands up in mock

surrender.

"Sango, is there any other way about this situation without cutting off my hair?" Kagome whined.

"Hmm…let's see, you could hide your hair under a hat, but that would be difficult since you have such a thick mane. Perhaps there is some kind of spell to make long hair appear short…"

"That's it! A spell!" Kagome cried.

"Yeah right, like who would come up with a dumb spell like that! I was just talking rubbish, such a spell probably doesn't even exists."

"Well, I'm going to try and find that spell!" Kagome cried resolutely. "And you are going to help." With that, Kagome grabbed hold of Sango's hand and dragged her to the library.

Southern Kingdom

"Ah…such a lovely emerald necklace. It's perfect for my beautiful Kagome…Ginta, get this wrapped and sent to Lady Kagome." Kouga said.

"Right a way Lord Kouga." Ginta said, bowing deeply.

"How's the wedding chamber's preparation coming along Ayame? I want everything to be perfect for my Kagome."

"They are coming along fine Lord Kouga. I'm sure the Lady will be pleased with the new designs." Ayame said with a smile.

"Great! Keep up the good work Ayame!" With that, Kouga left the room to oversee the other preparations.

Battle grounds

The Northern and Western troops arrived from opposite sides, the leaders of both sides staring at the other, sizing up their opponents. Tension builds with each passing second, like a ticking time bomb that may explode at even the faintest of movements. Sesshoumaru let out a low and menacing growl, and the battle begun…

Sesshoumaru and Kikyou charged at each other. Sesshomaru called forth his poison whip and took a lash at Kikyou, she dodged the whip, but her stead took the fatal blow, forcing Kikyou to take the fight to the ground. She landed gracefully beside her fallen horse, her eyes narrowed, and she sent a dart laced with miko energy at Sesshoumaru, grazing his cheeks lightly. A tint of red ringed Sesshoumaru's eyes, and he leaped off his horse, and charged at kikyou with his poison filled claws. Kikyou dodged the swipe, but Sesshoumaru lashed out with his other set of claws, catching Kikyou by surprise.

Kikyou winced in pain as the poison penetrated her armor and made contact with her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes with hatred, while clutching at her wounded shoulder. Sesshoumaru took the opportunity to lash his poison whip at her, slashing her across the stomach, before moving in to take another swipe at her prone form with his claws. Kikyou has been waiting for this chance, and when her enemy came close enough to her, she tossed the small bottle of potion at Sesshoumaru, just as his claws hit her chest. After that, everything became a blur for Kikyou, as she slipped into an eternal sleep. The last few words that escaped her lips were…"I have done what I have come to do, you will die too Sesshoumaru…."


	2. chp2

_Authoress_: Hi ya people! Thanks for the support! nn here's the 2nd chapter, hope you'll like it!

Eastern kingdom

"Now, where is it…where is it?" kagome mumbled, as she scanned the shelves for the familiar ancient book of miko spells and enchantments.

"What does it look like kag?" Sango asked.

"Umm…it's very old and has a thick brown cover…"

"Well that is a lot of help, considering that practically every book in here is old and brown!" Sango bit out sarcastically.

"Well, if you were a bit more patient and let me finish what I was saying…I would have told you the name of the book! Which is by the way called Mikorlin."

With that the two continued their prowl through the massive library…that is, until their rumbling tummies forbid them to carry on any further. When they were about to take a break, Kagome exclaimed.

"Ye-es! I've found it!"

"Thank god that is over; I am beginning to think that I have a rock band residing in my stomach…finally I'll get to eat something!" Sango cried, as she dusted off herself and made a beeline for the kitchen.

"Hey, you found it yet?" Sango queried.

"I think so…this should work…well, at least I hope so…"

"Well, it had better work considering how long we took to find the damn book!"

"Ok, all I have to do is chant these words when I want my hair to look short, and say the words in reverse to undo the spell…sounds easy enough."

"Here goes nothing…" Kagome took a deep breath and chanted the whole string of words, remembering what the book said about channeling one's energy into the spell.

"Oh hell!" Sango gasped. "Your hair is…it's…it's…you're bald!"

"What? Ahhh…" Kagome cried, as her hand shot up immediately to her head. 'Hair! I feel hair…wait a minute…'

"Sango!" Kagome cried. "That is so low! You scared the living daylights out of me; I swear you cut my lifespan down by a quarter! Girl, sometimes I just feel like strangling you…" kagome said shaking her head.

"Oh kag, I just can't resist…besides, it's so funny, the look on your face is Priceless!" Sango guffawed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead, laugh at my expanse, I'm the clown..."

"Hahahaha…" Sango spluttered, clutching onto her stomach.

"Hey! You're not supposed to take it literally." Kagome sighed.

After, a long long Long while, Sango finally managed to regain her composure, with the occasional giggle or so…

"Ouch! My stomach hurts so bad from all that laughing…" Sango moaned.

"Serves you right!" Kagome huffed. "Anyway, I think the spell worked out quite well, I definitely look more like a guy with my hair short…and quite a cute one too…" Kagome said, as she pranced around the full length mirror.

"You are so full of yourself kag."

"Come on, I do look quite good right."

"Hmm…I guess so...if it makes you stop pouting into that mirror." Sango said exasperated.

"Knock, knock."

"Uh oh!" Kagome and Sango cried in unison.

"Quick! Change your hair back!" Sango cried.

Kagome nodded, and tried to say the spell backwards.

"Nothing's happening! Kagome, are you sure you had said it right?"

"Lady Kagome, may I enter?" the servant at the door asked.

"In a minute…"kagome shouted, starting to panic, if her mother gets wind of what she is up to, she'll be dead.

"Ah…I'm not going to make it…" kagome cried in despair.

"Kagome, calm down and try again…" sango said with authority.

Kagome tried again, and luckily she succeeds, and not a moment too soon, as the impatient servant decided to throw open the doors to her room at that very moment.

"Please lady kagome, your presence is needed at the fitting room immediately, your wedding gown have just arrived."

"Yes, of course. Lead the way Leila" kagome said.

As kagome trailed reluctantly after Leila, she let her thoughts wander. 'now that my hair's been taken care off, all I need to do is get hold of some commoners clothes, and I shall be on my way soon, I believe sango would be able to help me in that aspect…oh ya, I'll better pack some food along too…'

**Western Kingdom**

"Lord Sesshoumaru, this Jaken is so happy to see you back here, thank heavens…" Jaken cried, while drying off his tears of happiness on his sleeves.

"You think this Sesshoumaru will fail to return..." Sesshoumaru stated, throwing jaken a glare.

"No, no…no this is not what I mea…"

However, Jaken did not manage to finish his sentence, as Sesshoumaru had swiftly kicked him, effectively sending the small figure flying down the stairs. He stood there watching the ugly toad tumbling down the stairs, a slight smile gracing his usually cold mask, before he turned and resumed his walk to his father's study.

"I want a full report on the current situation." Lord Taisho said.

"Victory is ours, and kikyou is dead."

"Naraku's daughter is dead. Well, that man is definitely not going to take this lying down…we must be prepared for any surprise attack on his part."

"I understand, I will inform the guards to be on the alert." Sesshoumaru replied, before taking his leave from the room.

Just as he closed the study door, he was hit by a wave of dizziness. He staggered, and had to lean against the wall for support. 'What is happening to me? I don't usually tire out so easily…maybe I had spent more energy finishing that bitch than I thought…and what is that thing she threw at me…could it be the cause of this dizzy spell…no, that's absurd, there is nothing that this Sesshoumaru can't handle. She is foolish to think that her pathetic potion could harm me…' Sesshoumaru shook his head, trying to clear his head of the dizziness. After a while, the dizziness appeared to have lessened some what, and Sesshoumaru straightened himself and headed for his chambers, acting as though nothing had happened to him. That night, Sesshoumaru slept fitfully, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead, causing his hair to clump to his damp skin. When he awoke the next morning, he felt really drained, as though he had been fighting a long tiresome battle all night long. But, he stubbornly refuse to admit his weakened state, as he changed and headed to the library to research for a possible cause for Rin's sickness, and hopefully a cure too.

**Eastern kingdom**

After another long and tiring session at the fitting room, kagome is more than glad to leave the room, and begin her preparation for her escape. However, she did feel kinda bad for the servants who are working so hard to prepare for a wedding with no bride.

"Sango, there you are, have you prepared the things yet?

"Yep! All of your requests have been carried out!" Sango said, with a mock salute.

"Thanks sango! You are really efficient." Kagome said, giving her friend a hug.

"Hey, hey…not so tight…I …can't…breathe…" sango chocked out.

"Oops! Hehe…sooo sorry." Kagome replied sheepishly.

With that, kagome hurriedly released sango. After that, the two proceeded to kagome's room to pack her things for her long journey.

"Alright, I've packed all the essentials" Kagome cried in triumph. "Yawn! I guess it's time to take a little nap, before my big escape…" with that, kagome went to bed.

Hours later, when the sun has set…

"Wake up kagome!" Souta shouted, shaking the sleeping form vigorously.

"Ummm….uh…huh?" mumbled a groggy kagome, as she rubbed her sleep induced eyes.

"Finally!" souta cried, "you sure can sleep sis…"

"What! I'm up already, so can you just cool it."

"Yeah, yeah, I am aware of that, it's just that you took so very long to wake up. Seriously, if there's a fire or something, it would have been too late for escape, because by the time you actually decide to wake up, you'll probably find yourself in Heaven or at best surrounded in a sea of fire." Souta said in a rush.

"Whoa, you are freaky…don't you run of air?" asked a bugged eyed kagome.

"Well, I have my means…" souta said, puffing out his chest with pride.

"It's not a compliment…" Kagome said, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever, I just came to remind you that you are supposed to escape…"

"Ahhh…I forgot!" kagome shrieked.

"Figures." Souta sighed, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Anyway, Sango asked me to past you these garbs, said that is all that she could find…" he said, gesturing to the neat pile of clothes at the foot of the bed.

"Wow! I get changed immediately."

"You'll better; sango has been waiting for you in the kitchen for quite a while now…"

"OUT! I need to change!" kagome cried, pushing souta swiftly out the doors.

Snatching the first set off the pile, kagome quickly worked on her transformation from a beautiful princess into a common boy. She started out by binding her chest in bandages, before putting on the clothes and uttering the spell to make her hair short once again. As a finishing touch, she sprayed on some of that fragrance that souta uses.

"Hmm… not bad, I look like a cute guy; smell like one…all I need to do now is to act like one." Kagome mumbled to herself, as she inspected her handiwork in front of the full length mirror.

With that, she strode out of the room.

"Wha..what? kag, is that you?" Souta asked.

"hehe…who else! If you can't recognize me, I'm pretty sure no one will." Kagome cried gleefully, doing a little victory dance round souta.

"They will, if they see you giggling and prancing around…honestly, you've got to work on your acting skills, and keep a tight rein on those whacked emotions of yours."

Kagome scowled and made a face. "Hmph…let's go already." She cried, grabbing souta by the scuff of his shirt, and dragging him towards the kitchen.

"Kagome!" Sango cried, rushing to give her friend a hug, "I'll…miss you…"

"Me too…" kagome chocked out, "I didn't realize how hard it'll be for me to say good bye…"

Souta stood awkwardly at the side as the two friends said their last goodbyes, and wipe the last tears off their cheeks. Once they regain their composure, Souta cleared his throat, getting both their attention.

"Sorry to break this up, but kagome you'll have to leave, before it's too late."

With that, Kagome gave sango a final hug before following souta out the door. Souta lead kagome down the corridors, telling anyone who questions that Kagome is a friend of his from town. Finally, they made it to the tower at the northern wing, where the secret tunnel that led to outside the castle walls lies.

"well…I guess it's good bye here sis."

Kagome just nodded mutely.

"You'll better get going before some servant chance upon us."

"Ok…when I'm gone, you must take care of mother. I will return when this marriage episode blows over…so don't worry too much ok?" Kagome said, with a watery smile.

"Don't worry about a thing sis, I can handle it, now, you better get moving." With that, souta gave kagome a shove, causing her to slide down the dark tunnel.

"Take care sis, bye…" Souta whispered into the air, as he closed the secret tunnel.

Outside the tunnel…

"Ouch!" Kagome cried out, as she landed none too gently on the hard ground.

"That souta is too much, I could have broken something there…I'll give him a piece of my mind when I come back." Kagome mumbled angrily.

'Now, where am I?' kagome stood up, as she studied her new surroundings carefully.

"Hmm…I see trees, trees, and more trees. Well, I guess I'm really outside then!" Kagome cheered.

"Who goes there!"

"Eeep." Kagome squeaked.

'Damn, I'm not outside the castle walls yet, this must be the backyard or something…'

Thinking quickly, kagome immediately pressed herself flat against one of the trees nearby, praying that the guard wouldn't notice her.

"Hey, Ricoshi! Come're you've got to try this sake I brought." Another guard called.

"Hai, I'm coming!"

With that, the guard was gone, leaving Kagome by herself once again. 'Whew! That was close…saved by the sake…now… I'll better keep quite, least I get caught for real…what should I do? I can't just walk out the gate, the guards on duty would notice…hmm, I know, I'll try that invisibility trick mother taught me…but I'm not too good at it, I can't make myself invisible for long, what if I lost my invisibility half-way…'

After a while, Kagome decided that she'll have to risk it. Taking a deep breath, she searched within herself for her miko powers, concentrating hard on it, she spoke some words, and instantly she became invisible. She gathered up what little things she brought and made a mad dash towards the gates.

"Hey! What's that?" One of the guards cried out.

'Oops! I'm dead meat…the spell wore off too soon.' Kagome thought, starting to panic.

"Ahhh! A ghost!" the other guards cried, abandoning their posts.

'A…a…a…Ghost!' Kagome thought, truly terrified. 'Where?'

Just then, it hit her. She is the ghost the guards were referring to. In her rush to get out, she forgot to make her belongings invisible, so the guards mistook the floating bag to be the workings of ghosts.

'Ha! I couldn't have planned it better, now I can make my escape without problem, considering that the guards left the gates open…Hehe…'

"Thanks you guys!" kagome called out, as she bounded out the gates towards freedom.

**Western Kingdom**

'Damn…I can't find it.' Sesshoumaru thought angrily. 'Rin is suffering and I can't even

do anything.'

Suddenly, he was hit with another wave of dizziness. This time it was worse than the one he had before.

Sesshoumaru winced in pain, clutching his head with his left hand, while his right hand held onto the nearby table for support. However, the pain was too overwhelming, Sesshoumaru's legs gave way, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

'What happened…who…?' Sesshoumaru thought, as he stared at the blurred figure of someone with long silvery hair leaning against the door frame, with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Keh! Took you long enough to wake up."

Sesshoumaru shook his head lightly to clear his vision, frowning slightly at the sight of Inuyasha.

"What do you want Hanyou…" Sesshoumaru stated coldly.

"Heh! Back to being the old icicle already. That was fast, for someone who had been out cold for days." Inuyasha retorted.

"What do you mean you half-breed." Sesshoumaru said, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, it's nothing, just that you are too weak! In bed recuperating for six days, you even broke my record! Heh!" Inuyasha said snidely.

"…"

"Keh! Nothing to say icicle?" Inuyashe taunted.

In a flash, Sesshoumaru was out of bed, his claws tightening around Inuyasha's neck as he held him by his neck in mid-air.

"Believe me 'dear brother' when I say that you can't even hold a candle to me. I'm twice the youkai you'll ever dream to be." Sesshoumaru said acidly.

"That's enough sesshoumaru, let your brother go." Lord Taisho ordered.

Sesshoumaru dropped inuyasha unceremoniously to the ground.

"Inuyasha, I want to have a word with your brother, could you leave." Lord Taisho said.

Still choking slightly, Inuyasha grasped his assaulted throat and left the room.

"Sesshomaru, what happened?" Taisho asked.

"I do not know the cause, but I'll be fine. I can still fight." Sesshoumaru said.

"No, I won't risk having you lead the next troop to battle. You will rest, and the healers will find the cause of the problem and solve it." Taisho stated firmly.

"I can handle it." Sesshoumaru said.

"No, and that's an order." Taisho stated.

Hence, for the next few days, Sesshoumaru was in bed, the occasional dizzy spells seems to get worse with each occurance, leaving him weak and helpless.

Even Inuyasha was starting to get worried for Sesshoumaru, seeing that Sesshoumaru had been a lot paler than before, and had to lie in bed all day. As much as the healers tried, they were baffled by this new disease that seems to plague Sesshoumaru…even the healers from outside the castle could not alleviate the problem.

Authoress: All you people who bother to review, Thanks so much, I'll do my best, so bear with me for now, the fun is just beginning…

Special thanks to…

Bloodangeloffire

kagome of the western lands

angelmaiden

vampire-angel-of-sorrow

BNightwalker123

_Authoress_: Hi ya people! Thanks for the support! nn here's the 2nd chapter, hope you'll like it!

Eastern kingdom

"Now, where is it…where is it?" kagome mumbled, as she scanned the shelves for the familiar ancient book of miko spells and enchantments.

"What does it look like kag?" Sango asked.

"Umm…it's very old and has a thick brown cover…"

"Well that is a lot of help, considering that practically every book in here is old and brown!" Sango bit out sarcastically.

"Well, if you were a bit more patient and let me finish what I was saying…I would have told you the name of the book! Which is by the way called Mikorlin."

With that the two continued their prowl through the massive library…that is, until their rumbling tummies forbid them to carry on any further. When they were about to take a break, Kagome exclaimed.

"Ye-es! I've found it!"

"Thank god that is over; I am beginning to think that I have a rock band residing in my stomach…finally I'll get to eat something!" Sango cried, as she dusted off herself and made a beeline for the kitchen.

"Hey, you found it yet?" Sango queried.

"I think so…this should work…well, at least I hope so…"

"Well, it had better work considering how long we took to find the damn book!"

"Ok, all I have to do is chant these words when I want my hair to look short, and say the words in reverse to undo the spell…sounds easy enough."

"Here goes nothing…" Kagome took a deep breath and chanted the whole string of words, remembering what the book said about channeling one's energy into the spell.

"Oh hell!" Sango gasped. "Your hair is…it's…it's…you're bald!"

"What? Ahhh…" Kagome cried, as her hand shot up immediately to her head. 'Hair! I feel hair…wait a minute…'

"Sango!" Kagome cried. "That is so low! You scared the living daylights out of me; I swear you cut my lifespan down by a quarter! Girl, sometimes I just feel like strangling you…" kagome said shaking her head.

"Oh kag, I just can't resist…besides, it's so funny, the look on your face is Priceless!" Sango guffawed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead, laugh at my expanse, I'm the clown..."

"Hahahaha…" Sango spluttered, clutching onto her stomach.

"Hey! You're not supposed to take it literally." Kagome sighed.

After, a long long Long while, Sango finally managed to regain her composure, with the occasional giggle or so…

"Ouch! My stomach hurts so bad from all that laughing…" Sango moaned.

"Serves you right!" Kagome huffed. "Anyway, I think the spell worked out quite well, I definitely look more like a guy with my hair short…and quite a cute one too…" Kagome said, as she pranced around the full length mirror.

"You are so full of yourself kag."

"Come on, I do look quite good right."

"Hmm…I guess so...if it makes you stop pouting into that mirror." Sango said exasperated.

"Knock, knock."

"Uh oh!" Kagome and Sango cried in unison.

"Quick! Change your hair back!" Sango cried.

Kagome nodded, and tried to say the spell backwards.

"Nothing's happening! Kagome, are you sure you had said it right?"

"Lady Kagome, may I enter?" the servant at the door asked.

"In a minute…"kagome shouted, starting to panic, if her mother gets wind of what she is up to, she'll be dead.

"Ah…I'm not going to make it…" kagome cried in despair.

"Kagome, calm down and try again…" sango said with authority.

Kagome tried again, and luckily she succeeds, and not a moment too soon, as the impatient servant decided to throw open the doors to her room at that very moment.

"Please lady kagome, your presence is needed at the fitting room immediately, your wedding gown have just arrived."

"Yes, of course. Lead the way Leila" kagome said.

As kagome trailed reluctantly after Leila, she let her thoughts wander. 'now that my hair's been taken care off, all I need to do is get hold of some commoners clothes, and I shall be on my way soon, I believe sango would be able to help me in that aspect…oh ya, I'll better pack some food along too…'

**Western Kingdom**

"Lord Sesshoumaru, this Jaken is so happy to see you back here, thank heavens…" Jaken cried, while drying off his tears of happiness on his sleeves.

"You think this Sesshoumaru will fail to return..." Sesshoumaru stated, throwing jaken a glare.

"No, no…no this is not what I mea…"

However, Jaken did not manage to finish his sentence, as Sesshoumaru had swiftly kicked him, effectively sending the small figure flying down the stairs. He stood there watching the ugly toad tumbling down the stairs, a slight smile gracing his usually cold mask, before he turned and resumed his walk to his father's study.

"I want a full report on the current situation." Lord Taisho said.

"Victory is ours, and kikyou is dead."

"Naraku's daughter is dead. Well, that man is definitely not going to take this lying down…we must be prepared for any surprise attack on his part."

"I understand, I will inform the guards to be on the alert." Sesshoumaru replied, before taking his leave from the room.

Just as he closed the study door, he was hit by a wave of dizziness. He staggered, and had to lean against the wall for support. 'What is happening to me? I don't usually tire out so easily…maybe I had spent more energy finishing that bitch than I thought…and what is that thing she threw at me…could it be the cause of this dizzy spell…no, that's absurd, there is nothing that this Sesshoumaru can't handle. She is foolish to think that her pathetic potion could harm me…' Sesshoumaru shook his head, trying to clear his head of the dizziness. After a while, the dizziness appeared to have lessened some what, and Sesshoumaru straightened himself and headed for his chambers, acting as though nothing had happened to him. That night, Sesshoumaru slept fitfully, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead, causing his hair to clump to his damp skin. When he awoke the next morning, he felt really drained, as though he had been fighting a long tiresome battle all night long. But, he stubbornly refuse to admit his weakened state, as he changed and headed to the library to research for a possible cause for Rin's sickness, and hopefully a cure too.

**Eastern kingdom**

After another long and tiring session at the fitting room, kagome is more than glad to leave the room, and begin her preparation for her escape. However, she did feel kinda bad for the servants who are working so hard to prepare for a wedding with no bride.

"Sango, there you are, have you prepared the things yet?

"Yep! All of your requests have been carried out!" Sango said, with a mock salute.

"Thanks sango! You are really efficient." Kagome said, giving her friend a hug.

"Hey, hey…not so tight…I …can't…breathe…" sango chocked out.

"Oops! Hehe…sooo sorry." Kagome replied sheepishly.

With that, kagome hurriedly released sango. After that, the two proceeded to kagome's room to pack her things for her long journey.

"Alright, I've packed all the essentials" Kagome cried in triumph. "Yawn! I guess it's time to take a little nap, before my big escape…" with that, kagome went to bed.

Hours later, when the sun has set…

"Wake up kagome!" Souta shouted, shaking the sleeping form vigorously.

"Ummm….uh…huh?" mumbled a groggy kagome, as she rubbed her sleep induced eyes.

"Finally!" souta cried, "you sure can sleep sis…"

"What! I'm up already, so can you just cool it."

"Yeah, yeah, I am aware of that, it's just that you took so very long to wake up. Seriously, if there's a fire or something, it would have been too late for escape, because by the time you actually decide to wake up, you'll probably find yourself in Heaven or at best surrounded in a sea of fire." Souta said in a rush.

"Whoa, you are freaky…don't you run of air?" asked a bugged eyed kagome.

"Well, I have my means…" souta said, puffing out his chest with pride.

"It's not a compliment…" Kagome said, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever, I just came to remind you that you are supposed to escape…"

"Ahhh…I forgot!" kagome shrieked.

"Figures." Souta sighed, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Anyway, Sango asked me to past you these garbs, said that is all that she could find…" he said, gesturing to the neat pile of clothes at the foot of the bed.

"Wow! I get changed immediately."

"You'll better; sango has been waiting for you in the kitchen for quite a while now…"

"OUT! I need to change!" kagome cried, pushing souta swiftly out the doors.

Snatching the first set off the pile, kagome quickly worked on her transformation from a beautiful princess into a common boy. She started out by binding her chest in bandages, before putting on the clothes and uttering the spell to make her hair short once again. As a finishing touch, she sprayed on some of that fragrance that souta uses.

"Hmm… not bad, I look like a cute guy; smell like one…all I need to do now is to act like one." Kagome mumbled to herself, as she inspected her handiwork in front of the full length mirror.

With that, she strode out of the room.

"Wha..what? kag, is that you?" Souta asked.

"hehe…who else! If you can't recognize me, I'm pretty sure no one will." Kagome cried gleefully, doing a little victory dance round souta.

"They will, if they see you giggling and prancing around…honestly, you've got to work on your acting skills, and keep a tight rein on those whacked emotions of yours."

Kagome scowled and made a face. "Hmph…let's go already." She cried, grabbing souta by the scuff of his shirt, and dragging him towards the kitchen.

"Kagome!" Sango cried, rushing to give her friend a hug, "I'll…miss you…"

"Me too…" kagome chocked out, "I didn't realize how hard it'll be for me to say good bye…"

Souta stood awkwardly at the side as the two friends said their last goodbyes, and wipe the last tears off their cheeks. Once they regain their composure, Souta cleared his throat, getting both their attention.

"Sorry to break this up, but kagome you'll have to leave, before it's too late."

With that, Kagome gave sango a final hug before following souta out the door. Souta lead kagome down the corridors, telling anyone who questions that Kagome is a friend of his from town. Finally, they made it to the tower at the northern wing, where the secret tunnel that led to outside the castle walls lies.

"well…I guess it's good bye here sis."

Kagome just nodded mutely.

"You'll better get going before some servant chance upon us."

"Ok…when I'm gone, you must take care of mother. I will return when this marriage episode blows over…so don't worry too much ok?" Kagome said, with a watery smile.

"Don't worry about a thing sis, I can handle it, now, you better get moving." With that, souta gave kagome a shove, causing her to slide down the dark tunnel.

"Take care sis, bye…" Souta whispered into the air, as he closed the secret tunnel.

Outside the tunnel…

"Ouch!" Kagome cried out, as she landed none too gently on the hard ground.

"That souta is too much, I could have broken something there…I'll give him a piece of my mind when I come back." Kagome mumbled angrily.

'Now, where am I?' kagome stood up, as she studied her new surroundings carefully.

"Hmm…I see trees, trees, and more trees. Well, I guess I'm really outside then!" Kagome cheered.

"Who goes there!"

"Eeep." Kagome squeaked.

'Damn, I'm not outside the castle walls yet, this must be the backyard or something…'

Thinking quickly, kagome immediately pressed herself flat against one of the trees nearby, praying that the guard wouldn't notice her.

"Hey, Ricoshi! Come're you've got to try this sake I brought." Another guard called.

"Hai, I'm coming!"

With that, the guard was gone, leaving Kagome by herself once again. 'Whew! That was close…saved by the sake…now… I'll better keep quite, least I get caught for real…what should I do? I can't just walk out the gate, the guards on duty would notice…hmm, I know, I'll try that invisibility trick mother taught me…but I'm not too good at it, I can't make myself invisible for long, what if I lost my invisibility half-way…'

After a while, Kagome decided that she'll have to risk it. Taking a deep breath, she searched within herself for her miko powers, concentrating hard on it, she spoke some words, and instantly she became invisible. She gathered up what little things she brought and made a mad dash towards the gates.

"Hey! What's that?" One of the guards cried out.

'Oops! I'm dead meat…the spell wore off too soon.' Kagome thought, starting to panic.

"Ahhh! A ghost!" the other guards cried, abandoning their posts.

'A…a…a…Ghost!' Kagome thought, truly terrified. 'Where?'

Just then, it hit her. She is the ghost the guards were referring to. In her rush to get out, she forgot to make her belongings invisible, so the guards mistook the floating bag to be the workings of ghosts.

'Ha! I couldn't have planned it better, now I can make my escape without problem, considering that the guards left the gates open…Hehe…'

"Thanks you guys!" kagome called out, as she bounded out the gates towards freedom.

**Western Kingdom**

'Damn…I can't find it.' Sesshoumaru thought angrily. 'Rin is suffering and I can't even

do anything.'

Suddenly, he was hit with another wave of dizziness. This time it was worse than the one he had before.

Sesshoumaru winced in pain, clutching his head with his left hand, while his right hand held onto the nearby table for support. However, the pain was too overwhelming, Sesshoumaru's legs gave way, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

'What happened…who…?' Sesshoumaru thought, as he stared at the blurred figure of someone with long silvery hair leaning against the door frame, with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Keh! Took you long enough to wake up."

Sesshoumaru shook his head lightly to clear his vision, frowning slightly at the sight of Inuyasha.

"What do you want Hanyou…" Sesshoumaru stated coldly.

"Heh! Back to being the old icicle already. That was fast, for someone who had been out cold for days." Inuyasha retorted.

"What do you mean you half-breed." Sesshoumaru said, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, it's nothing, just that you are too weak! In bed recuperating for six days, you even broke my record! Heh!" Inuyasha said snidely.

"…"

"Keh! Nothing to say icicle?" Inuyashe taunted.

In a flash, Sesshoumaru was out of bed, his claws tightening around Inuyasha's neck as he held him by his neck in mid-air.

"Believe me 'dear brother' when I say that you can't even hold a candle to me. I'm twice the youkai you'll ever dream to be." Sesshoumaru said acidly.

"That's enough sesshoumaru, let your brother go." Lord Taisho ordered.

Sesshoumaru dropped inuyasha unceremoniously to the ground.

"Inuyasha, I want to have a word with your brother, could you leave." Lord Taisho said.

Still choking slightly, Inuyasha grasped his assaulted throat and left the room.

"Sesshomaru, what happened?" Taisho asked.

"I do not know the cause, but I'll be fine. I can still fight." Sesshoumaru said.

"No, I won't risk having you lead the next troop to battle. You will rest, and the healers will find the cause of the problem and solve it." Taisho stated firmly.

"I can handle it." Sesshoumaru said.

"No, and that's an order." Taisho stated.

Hence, for the next few days, Sesshoumaru was in bed, the occasional dizzy spells seems to get worse with each occurance, leaving him weak and helpless.

Even Inuyasha was starting to get worried for Sesshoumaru, seeing that Sesshoumaru had been a lot paler than before, and had to lie in bed all day. As much as the healers tried, they were baffled by this new disease that seems to plague Sesshoumaru…even the healers from outside the castle could not alleviate the problem.

Authoress: All you people who bother to review, Thanks so much, I'll do my best, so bear with me for now, the fun is just beginning…


	3. ch3

**Authoress: Hey everyone, I'm back again with my 3rd chapter! o I didn't expect myself to write such a long ficcy, but here goes, hope you guys enjoy it! And thanks for all the reviews, that's the only thing that keeps me going on writing. I'll try and update soon… nn**

**Chapter 3**

Kagome…

"Ouch!" Kagome cried as she tripped over yet another log in the darkened forest. "Damn! Those stupid logs should watch where they are lying, someone might get hurt…in particular me." She muttered, as she tried to get back on her feet. 'I hope I get out of this soon…or at least find some shelter for the night…' Just then, she noticed something bright in the distance. 'Light? Ah…I'm saved; I bet there are people there that would take me in for the night. Yeah!' with that thought in mind, she stumbled toward the light with renewed vigor and determination.

"Made it!" Kagome exclaimed, as she approached the hut. 'Hmm…this place looks kind of old and run-down…definitely in need of repairs. I wonder who lives here? Oh well heck, I'll just knock and find out…' Raising her fist, she knocked tentatively on the door. Surprisingly, the door creaked open on contact. 'Huh? It's not locked? Such a careless owner…' She peeked around the door.

"Is anyone home?" she called. 'No answer? Strange, there's a nice fire going in the fireplace, but no one was here?'

"Hello… anyone here? I would like to spend the night here if it's not too much trouble…" Kagome said.

"Come in little one…"

"Who…" Kagome whipped around and saw a lady dressed in an exquisite pale green kimono with elaborate embroidery of creeping vines on the sleeves. She had long light blue hair that cascaded down to the floor in waves and her porcelain complexion and large deep sea blue eyes glowed under the flickering of the fire in the fireplace, giving her an unworldly look.

"Wow…" Kagome breathed out, awed by her beauty.

"Hello there, I'm Ritsumi." The lady said, smiling gently.

"I…I'm Kag." Kagome replied meekly.

"May I know why you are wandering around in the dark?"

"Uh…ummm…"

"Ah…I see you have your reasons, I shan't force you to answer if you are unwilling…"

"Um yeah, I have my reasons…" Kagome said, and added under her breath "Really good ones too."

"Did you say something?" Ritsumi questioned kindly.

"No, no…just muttering to myself." Kagome replied slightly flustered.

"Well, I believe you wanted to spend the night here?"

"Yes please, if it's okay with you that is…"

"Sure, I'm sorry that the place is not very tidy right now. But if you don't mind, I'll be glad if you stayed…" Ritsumi said silkily, a small smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Thank you very much." Kagome said, bowing to the lady.

"No, **thank you**…" Ritsumi said, as she returned the bow with one of her own.

"You may take this room." Ritsumi said, gesturing to the empty room on her right.

"Ok, Thanks again." Kagome said cheerfully, as she entered the room.

'A bed! I'm so tired…thank goodness I found this place, Ritsumi is so kind…' With that last thought in her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

"Stupid girl walked herself right into the tigers' lair. I guess it saves me from hunting for breakfast in the morning… I bet she'll taste a lot better than that old crone I had for supper." Ritsumi said, her sea blue eyes glinting maliciously.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Kagome awoke to tend to her bladder problems. 'I need to pee…wonder where the bathroom is.' Kagome thought, as she dragged herself out of the warm comforts of the bed. Feeling her way around in the dark, she somehow manage to locate the bathroom.

"Ah…I feel much better now." Kagome said, as she stifled another yawn. 'Guess I'll better catch up on my sleep, I have a long journey ahead…'

"Ouch…" Kagome groaned as she rubbed her sore butt. 'Not another log.' Turning around, she got the biggest shock of her life. The 'log' she had supposedly tripped over was actually the body of an old lady, the old lady is obviously dead, as her skin is deathly pale, and the worst part is that her hands and legs were missing, seemingly to have been viciously ripped off by some savage beast.

"Ahhh!" Kagome shrieked, her shrill screams echoing through the dark forest night.

"So, I see you found out…that old hag wasn't much of a treat, I believe that you'll taste a whole lot better than her…" Ritsumi said slyly, licking her chops.

"You…you monster…" Kagome said shakily.

"Not quite right little one, I'm a demoness. More precisely, one who possesses the powers of water and plants." Ritsumi said, smiling evilly at Kagome, before continuing "and you my dear have the honor of being my breakfast."

With that said, Ritsumi started to transform. Her once porcelain smooth skin started bubbling beneath the surface, finally rupturing to form ugly welts on her now dirt brown skin. Her fingernails lengthen and sharpened at the ends forming claws, and her limbs lengthened at the joints, making her look disturbingly out of proportion. She hunched over, as fangs protruded from her mouth. Gone is the beautiful maiden, replaced by a hideous creature… Kagome stared rooted to the ground in wide-eyed horror, her mind too numbed by fear to think of an escape plan. The creature (a.k.a Ritsumi) stared at Kagome with its now blood red eyes, as it ambers over to the frightened girl. The creature let out a low growl, and proceeded to take a swipe at Kagome.

"Eeek! Gahh!" Kagome cried, ducking the deadly claws at the last second. 'Hell! I need to get out of here fast; else I'm dead meat…' With that, Kagome took off towards the forest. Seeing that its prey is escaping, the creature instinctively gave chase. Kagome kept on running, turning around once in a while to check the creature's progress. 'Oh no…it's gaining on me' Kagome thought in a panic. Suddenly, Kagome felt herself falling; the gap between the ground and her is drawing closer by the seconds. 'Stupid logs!' Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable impact with the cold forest floor, and possibly the painful slash of the creature's claws against her throat. However, the pain did not come; as a strong arm was slipped behind her back, effectively stopping her descend to the ground. Sapphire met dark violet. 'Unique eyes…' Kagome mused. Before her savior raised his staff to par the creature's deadly claws. Upon seeing the creature, Kagome immediately steadied herself, so as not to burden the guy with her weight while he took the creature head on.

Kagome stood off to the sides, as her mystery hero sparred with the creature. 'Amazing, he must be quite skilled since he managed to hit it a few times, considering that he is just human…well, at least he looks human enough to me…but looks can be deceiving…but he must be human, it doesn't make much sense for him to fight his own kind right.'

"You think you can win against me you weak human! Stop dreaming! I was just testing you, now you shall bear witness to my great powers…" the creature rasped out sarcastically.

"Heh! You talk big for one who had been at the receiving end of my staff." The guy retorted.

Suddenly, the creature called forth a torrent of water, and it is heading straight towards the guy. The guy made no move to dodge the onslaught.

"Get out of there!" Kagome cried.

The guy merely smirked, as he yelled "Kazaana!" in a flash, a black hole of some sort appeared in the palm of his hand, and all the water was sucked into it, after which the hole disappeared leaving no trace of its existence.

"I see you have a few tricks up your sleeves human…well then, try this!" in an instant, a huge stream of water shot out from its hand.

"Kazanna!" the guy cried again, and every last drop of water was gone. However, in the time while he is distracted by the water, the creature had called forth millions of vines, and it wound round the guy, stopping his movements instantaneously.

"Not so corky now are we?" the creature taunted, as he held the guy up by his throat.

"Let him go!" Kagome cried, as she ran towards the pair, a stick in hand.

"You are in no position to make demands, and you cannot possibly dream of harming me with that useless twig!" The creature said in its raspy voice.

"Take that!" Kagome cried as she attempted to thrust the stick into the creature's side. The creature reach out and grab the stick, snapping it in half easily before discarding the useless thing. Kagome sweat dropped. 'Uh oh…'

"Eh…heheh…you know I was just kidding right…" Kagome began awkwardly.

The creature stared unblinkingly at her through its red eyes, and started to raise its claws. Just then, it doubled over with pain, as a sharp dagger pierced its sides. The guy had somehow managed to cut himself free with the dagger while the creature was distracted by Kagome. In its anger, the creature swiped out at the guy without any warning; however, being in such close proximity when the attack was executed, the guy could not get away fast enough, and took the full blow to his chest, sending him flying towards a near-by tree; his skull connected with the trunk of the tree with a sickening thud, and he lost consciousness thereafter.

"Nooo…" Kagome cried, as she helplessly watches the guy hit the tree.

"Heh! The pest is finally out of action…" the creature bit out. "Guess I'll better finish him off before he wakes up…" The creature then approached the prone form at the base of the tree, its claws poised for the kill.

"No! I won't let you!" Kagome whispered firmly. 'I'm not going to let that thing kill another…' Kagome felt anger boiling within her, and her aura flared up dangerously around her. Just as the creature was about to strike, Kagome felt an immense hatred and need to destroy the creature. All of a sudden, something seem to break loose within her, and she raised her hand and fired a beam of energy at the creature, dissipating it on the spot. After the smoke cleared somewhat, Kagome looked on the scene in disbelief.

"D-did I do that?" she gasped, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

Just then, she notice the guy lying under the tree, and she hurried over to him, worry etched clearly on her face, her shock over her tremendous powers tossed aside for now.

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked, tapping the guy's cheeks lightly.

"Uh…hmmm…" the guy mumbled slightly disorientated.

After determining that the guy did not suffer from any serious injuries, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down cross-legged across from him, waiting for him to regain his bearings.

"I'm Kag, what's your name?"

"Miroku. By the way, what happened? I distinctively remember fighting some ugly demon."

"Oh…erm…" Kagome began nervously, 'how am I going to explain this to him…'

"Well…you see…I kind of killed it. I don't really know how, but I guess I just blasted it with some energy, I can't control it, and it just shot out of my hand…" she finished lamely.

"Hmm…are you trained in magic?" Miroku asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"A little I guess."

"Ah…so you come from a family line of magical beings? Then you must be a sorcerer."

"Yeah…guess you can say that. What about you, from what I see of your battle, you are quite skilled."

"Ha-ha…I'm a priest, and am currently serving the powerful Western Kingdom. A man as talented as you would be a great help in the war against the Northern kingdom, so care to join the ranks?" Miroku asked sincerely.

"Eh? Me? I'm not sure; I mean I still don't have a good command over my powers…"

"Not to worry, I can train you if you like, and there are great sorcerers in the kingdom that will help you gain control over your powers."

"Uhm…"

"Hesitate no more, you are coming with me. You stand to gain a lot my man; you get to train and become more powerful, plus you get free food and lodging.

"But…"

"No more buts. All you have to do is go out once in awhile to fight, but fear not, you will only be sent out to the battlefield if the Lord finds you capable enough. He won't jeopardize any of his men's life." Miroku stated, smiling at her.

Seeing that Miroku is adamant about her joining the ranks plus the thought of a shelter over her head, Kagome agreed. 'Besides, Miroku seems really nice, not to mention cute.' Kagome thought to herself, blushing slightly. With that, they started out on their journey to the Western kingdom together after their breakfast.

**Western kingdom**

"Damn that Miroku, he should be here by now! That lecherous monk must have been too busy chatting up ladies again…He'll get a taste of my fist later…" Inuyasha muttered darkly, while he thought of new ways to torture the monk.

'Stupid Miroku, I'm not going to wait any longer. I'll just train by myself, he's totally unreliable…' with that, Inuyasha stood and headed in the general direction of the training room.

"Here we are Kag, this is the castle." Miroku said, signaling the guards to open the gates.

"Don't just stand there come on in, I'll bring you to see Lord Taisho." Miroku said, slinging an arm around Kagome's shoulders.

Kagome back off instinctively, her cheeks burning up. (You couldn't blame her considering that she hasn't had much contact with males, other than Souta…but that's because he's her brother.)

"Hey, what's wrong Kag? Are you blushing?"

Kagome turned her head away, and replied somewhat hotly, "What! Me blushing? No way, I…I was just feeling hot that's all after being in the sun so long and all."

"Oh! You okay there?" Miroku asked concerned.

"I'm fine. It's nothing."

"Well then, let's go see the Lord." Miroku said jovially, slapping her on the back.

"Come in." Lord Taisho stated.

"My lord, this is Kag, he's a really powerful sorcerer, and he just needs a little training to help him control his powers. I'm sure he'll be a great help in the battle against the Northern Lord." Miroku said, bowing deeply.

"Kag is it?" Lord Taisho said, turning around to address Kagome.

"Y-yes my lord." Kagome said.

"Well, I trust Miroku, and since he thinks so highly of you, you may stay and train here. However, I shall test your strength in a month's time to see how good you really are in the annual Fighters' Cup."

"Thank you my lord." Kagome and Miroku said, before leaving the library.

"Now, let's get you settled down." Miroku said, "You can stay in the room next to mine."

Miroku was just showing Kagome around the castle after dropping her things in the room, when their little tour was interrupted by a certain angry looking hanyou.

"Oi Miroku! You stupid monk, do you know how long I waited the other day for you to show up for training!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Oops…" Miroku said, as he held up both his hands in mock defense.

"I can explain…" Miroku began.

"Explain my ass!" Inuyasha yelled, as he swung his fist at Miroku, who barely managed to dodge it.

"Stop!" Kagome bellowed, putting herself between the two.

"Mind your own business! And what the hell are you doing in my castle!" Inuyasha demanded.

"Your-your castle!" Kagome gasped out.

"Keh! That's right! So why are you here?" Inuyasha asked rudely.

"He's a new addition to the troops. He's name's Kag." Miroku answered for Kagome.

"New fighter? Looks like a weakling to me." Inuyasha scoffed.

"Why you…" Kagome started, miffed by the guy's rudeness. 'I don't like him much!' Kagome decided resolutely.

"Heh! If you aren't a weakling then let's have a spar. I bet I could beat you up easily." Inuyasha challenged arrogantly.

Kagome gritted her teeth; she's literally seething with anger by now. "Fine, let's spar!" Kagome retorted.

"Heh! Meet me in the training room tomorrow morning." Inuyasha said smugly before sauntering away.

"What an arrogant jerk!" Kagome bit out.

"Inuyasha isn't that bad he's just rough on the outside, but deep down he's really a nice guy." Miroku said, "And did you realize that you just agreed to a spar with him? He's a really good fighter, so…good luck!"

"Eh? I did? Ahh…and he's good? I'm going to die…" Kagome said dismayed.

"Hey, cheer up. Don't underestimate yourself; after all you did manage to defeat the demon that even I couldn't right?"

"Well…that's different. Besides I couldn't remember how I did it anyway…"

"Why don't you get a good night's sleep, everything will work out." Miroku said, as he guided Kagome back to her room.

The next morning…

Kagome yawned widely, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. 'Where am I? Nice bed though, real comfy…' Just then realization hit her, as the events from yesterday came crashing down on her.

"Oh my God! I'm late!" Kagome cried, as she kicked off the blankets, and leapt out of bed. She hurriedly ran a comb through her now short hair and after checking her reflection a few times (to ensure that she still look like a guy.) she threw open the doors and dashed out; only to collide into something solid.

"Ouch!" Kagome yelped as she landed on her butt.

"Damn! You should watch where you are going!" someone cursed.

"Sor…sorry…" Kagome apologized hurriedly, as she picked herself off the floor.

"Hey Kag, we came to pick you up. Training has already started." Miroku said cheerfully, peeking over Inuyasha's shoulders.

"Keh! I bet he didn't come sooner because he's too scared to get his ass whipped be yours truly." Inuyasha said, pointing to himself.

"I just overslept that's all! I wasn't going to chicken out you moron!" Kagome gritted out, emphasizing each of her words with a jab to Inuyasha's chest.

"Hey! Quit poking me you shorty! Let's go already." Inuyasha said, brushing Kagome aside, as he strode towards the training room.

"He really knows how to get on people's nerves!" Kagome huffed, as she and Miroku hurried after Inuyasha.

In the training room…

"Hey inu, where are you going? It's supposed to be here..." Miroku said.

"It's crowded in here; I want more room for my spar with shorty."

"Oh, you'll definitely need more room to run and hide." Kagome said snidely.

"Keh! I'm gonna wipe the training floor with your face shorty!" Inuyasha retorted, as he threw open the double set doors leading from the main training room.

"Sess…Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here?" Inuyasha asked, upon seeing Sesshoumaru in the training room.

"…"

"Oi, I'm talking to you! Father said you are to stay in bed!"

"I don't have to answer to you hanyou." Sesshoumaru said coldly.

'Whoa…that guy's hot…so he's Inuyasha's brother…'

"You know it's rude to stare…" Sesshoumaru began, as he turned around to face Kagome, "who are you…'

"I…I'm Kag, I'm a new recruit." Kagome answered respectfully.

"Yup! And he and Inuyasha are going to have a spar." Miroku quipped.

"Interesting…" Sesshoumaru said.

"Keh! So move aside so we can battle!" Inuyasha said rudely.

"Fine, I shall be the judge of the battle's outcome." Sesshoumaru stated.

"What! Who made you the judge!" Inuyasha shouted, annoyed.

"Why are you so worked up over it, unless of course you are afraid of losing to this Kag, little brother…?" Sesshoumaru said calmly.

"No way! Fine, you can stay here and judge." Inuyasha agreed resignedly.

"All right…the fight for the title of strongest warrior is about to commence…on my right we have one of Western kingdom's best fight Inuyasha, a half-demon. And on my right we have Kag, the powerful new recruit, and he's a human…and might I add that Kag here managed to defeat a really powerful demon that even I couldn't…" Miroku was cut off rudely by a "Keh! You talk too much, begin the match already." Inuyasha shouted.

"Okay, Begin!" Miroku shouted.

"Come on shorty, I'll be fair and let you have the first move."

"Eh?" Kagome squeaked, suddenly feeling nervous when she realized that she really had to fight Inuyasha. 'What do I do now? Do I punch him? Ah heck, here goes…' Kagome thought, as she attempted to punch Inuyasha, who dodged the attack easily.

"Is that all you've got? You truly are weak! Guess I'll finish you off quickly now! Iron-Reaver soul stealer!"

"Gah!" Kagome barely missed it, her shirt's right sleeves however weren't that lucky, and was torn off at the ends. 'This guy's serious. I'll better do something fast before I get pulverized.' Thinking fast, Kagome immediately began chanting the spell for invisibility.

"Hey! Where the hell did he go?" Inuyasha asked surprised, as Kagome disappeared into thin air.

'Hmm…a socerer…this should be fun to watch…' Sesshoumaru thought.

"Feh! Cheap tricks. I'll sniff you out Kag. Don't forget I have demon abilities."

'Shoot, over looked that point. Now what?' Kagome thought frantically.

Inuyasha smirked, as he caught hold of Kagome's scent. 'His scent is interesting, smells like the sea…quite refreshing. But, he can't hide anymore; I know where he is…'

"Damn! Miss again!" Inuyasha cursed.

'Whew! That was close…Amazingly, my invisibility actually lasted this long. Maybe, I really am getting stronger…now, I can't keep hiding. I need to attack. But how? I need to figure out how I did it the last time…but of course I don't want too much power least it kills Inuyasha…this is so vexing! Damn! I can't stay in one place too long, got to keep moving, or else inu will find me…'

"Stupid shorty! Damn he keeps moving away just when I detected him." Inuyasha said frustrated.

'That hanyou seems a little distraught…and that Kag, why didn't he attack him? Could it be that he didn't know any attcks? This is more amusing than I thought…such good entertainment is hard to find these days…' Sesshoumaru thought, a small smile gracing his lips.

"Stop hiding you chicken, come out and fight me face to face shorty!" Inuyasha challenged.

"Fine. Take that!" Kagome yelled, as she conjured up a stream of bubbles directly at Inuyasha.

"Feh! You think some stupid bubbles are going to hurt me? Why, I can even pop it with my fingers." Inuyasha scoffed, and to proof his point he reached out and pops one of the bubbles.

"Gah!" Inuyasha leapt away in pain after suffering an electric shock from the bubble he just popped. "What the hell is this?"

"Yes it worked! Hey inu you shouldn't underestimate my bubbles, each one contains a pretty good shock once it burst, as you'll probably remember from popping one just now." Kagome said smugly.

'This is truly interesting…did he just create that attack on the spot? He proof to be quite a surprise. I will challenge him once I regain my strength, and rid myself of the dizzy spells.'

"Yo Kag! Those bubbles are great!" Miroku shouted.

"Oi shut up Miroku!" Inuyasha yelled, giving Miroku the evil eye.

"Let's see how you get out of my bubble bath Inuyasha!"

"Keh! I'll just dash through it!" With that, Inuyasha dove into the bubbles, and got quite the shock of his life, as all the bubbles that he came into contact with pops and let lose a huge amount of electricity, causing him to retreat back to his original position. Frustrated, Inuyasha let out a string of colorful words.

"Tsk, tsk…such foul language…" Kagome said, wagging her finger at him.

"Sesshoumaru! Are you ok?" Miroku shouted in worry, as he hurried over to the fallen form.

"Huh?" Kagome turned around, only to see Sesshoumaru lying on the ground, clutching his head in pain. Without a moment's hesitation, she cleared all the bubbles with a wave of her hand, and hurried over to Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha hot on her heels.

"Are you ok?" Kagome asked worriedly, as she knelt down beside him.

Her only reply was more moans from Sesshoumaru.

"He needs help immediately; his breathing is getting shallower by the minute!" Miroku said frantically.

"Oi, don't die on me Sesshoumaru! I've yet to beat you in Fighter's Cup! Are you listening, get your butt up and stop whining like a poor puppy. Don't tell me the great Sesshoumaru's going to die from some stupid illness!"

Somehow, through his pain, Sesshoumaru still managed to glare at Inuyasha, even if it is just for a little while.

"Quick! Call the healers Inu!" Miroku ordered.

"Right! You better still be breathing when I come back Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha yelled, as he fled the room in search of the healers.

"What's taking Inuyasha so long? He should be back by now…" Miroku muttered worriedly.

"Miroku! All the healers are out for some stupid council meeting!"

"What!" Kagome and Miroku cried in unison.

'Oh my God! Sesshoumaru is dying and all the healers are gone? This is bad…he's going to die…What am I to do…I wish Mother had taught me how to heal…Wait! Hang on a second, I do remember something…'

Playback of Kagome's memory…

When Father passed away, I remember having a small talk with Mother.

"Mother! Why did Father have to die? You are a miko right? Why can't you save him? Why did you let him die…?" Kagome wept.

Kaede shook her head sadly, "It's too late for me to do anything, by the time I reach your Father, he has already passed on…and even if he still breathed, I still might not been able to save him, as such things requires lots of energy and immense focus on the executors part, or it may jeopardize both parties' lives…"

"What do you mean jeopardize both parties' lives?"

"You see Kagome, in order for a miko to heal some one, they have to draw their energy and soul together, and share this equally with the dying party. Should the miko lose her concentration even momentarily, the balance of power would tip, and both will die…" Kaede said solemnly.

"What? I didn't know it would be so dangerous…"

Back to the Present…

"So…I need to merge my energy and soul…I'll do it, I cannot fail, I know how painful it is to lose one's loved ones…like how I lose Father, I won't fail." Kagome muttered determinedly to herself.

"I think I might be able to save Sesshoumaru…but I'll need to concentrate on the task fully, so I need both of you to leave this room…"

The two guys nodded seriously, and they stood to leave the room.

"Sesshoumaru's life is in your hands now. You promise you won't mess it up?" Inuyasha asked.

"I swear I won't, as if I was to fail, I too will die…"

With that, they left.

Kagome took a deep breath, her face serious. Closing her eyes, she searched within herself… 'Powers…I need you…' gradually, Kagome felt herself being surrounded by a blue hue. 'Got to gather it into a sphere…' slowly, she guided all the blue hue into the palm of her hand to form the sphere. 'Now for my soul…the pink glow…is that it?' Her instincts told her that was what she seeks; hence she scooped it up and gently melded it with the blue sphere in her hand. 'Now I'm ready…sharing it equally…' With that she placed the glowing sphere on Sesshoumaru's chest, slowly, the sphere sink into Sesshoumaru's chest. 'Need to maintain it…can't let it slip too far…' Kagome concentrated hard on the sphere to keep it hovering half way outside his chest. However, the task seems to be harder than she thought, as the sphere starts to slip deeper into Sesshoumaru. 'No! I must maintain it…have to keep the balance. Ugh! I can't do it…it's slipping…'

Authoress: Ok everyone, I'll stop here for now, so keep the reviews coming in ok? Love ya all! Bye! nn


	4. Chapter 4

**Authoress: Terribly sorry that it took me so long to update, I was preoccupied with other stuffs, as well as the fact that I lost the copy of the chapter I typed up, corrupted diskette…yea, so I had to retype everything again…once again so sorry…and thanks for your continued support, I'll do my best. Ok, hope you enjoy chapter 4! -**

**Chapter 4**

'NOoo…I can't hold on to this any longer, Sesshoumaru is too powerful, he's drawing too much of the energy…' Kagome thought desperately.

The glowing sphere slowly made it's descend towards Sesshoumaru, while Kagome struggled fruitlessly to get her hold of the sphere. Finally, in a last ditch attempt, Kagome focused all her being on one thought. 'Survive!'

A blinding white flash of light is then seen emitting from the sphere and the room was engulfed in the light, and Kagome had to close her eyes or risk being blinded by the light.

'What's happening? Am I going to die? This must be what Heaven looks like…bright, white…' Kagome thought, before she passed out.

Miroku and Inuyasha, who had been standing outside the door of the room the whole time, saw the white light shining through the slit in the door and grew even more anxious.

"Oi Miroku…do you think it's over now?"

"I am but as clueless as you. I think it's best if we wait a little while longer, we don't want them both to lose their lives because of our interruption."

"…"

And so they waited, and waited and waited some more…until Inuyasha finally lost his patience.

"Feh! They are taking too long! Besides there hadn't even been a beep or any flash of light since that last one hours ago!"

"Hmm, I guess we could enter, but be quiet about it, we don't know for sure if they are still at it."

"Keh! Like I need you to tell me that!"

With that, they entered; the sight that met their eyes caused them both to gasp.

Someone with lustrous raven hair was lying on top of Sesshoumaru, both beings lying there, neither moving.

Miroku is the first to recover from the shock, and he hurried over, pulling the raven haired person off Sesshoumaru.

"Kag!" Miroku cried, shaking kagome.

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha cried, running over, he shook his brother really hard. "Damn you bastard! How could you die…?"

"Hold on a second, they aren't dead…check Sesshoumaru's pulse." Miroku said, after he realized that Kagome is still alive.

Inuyasha did as he was told, and sighed with relief. "Now what are we going to do about them?"

"Well, you take care of your brother, and I will take care of the beautiful kag."

"Huh? Turning around, he's head finally registered that the person in Miroku's arms is a girl. (Kag looks too much like a girl with long hair, and her height and small frame just adds to that conclusion. Even Inuyasha isn't dense enough to not notice.)

"No way am I leaving her with someone like you." Inuyasha said, bonking Miroku over the head.

"Ouch! Don't you trust me? I won't pull anything on a helpless girl." Miroku said.

"Yeah right! I know you too well…" Inuyasha cried. "The girl and my brother will stay in the same room, so that we can both look after them together."

"But…but…it's not really nice to leave them in the same room right? I mean there's only one bed per room…and you can't expect them to share the same bed right?"

"Why not, it's not like they will be alone, we'll be there too. Besides the bed is huge, there'll be more that enough space between them, and it sure beats having you alone with her!"

Miroku could only nod mutely.

"Ok, but I get to carry her, you can take Sesshoumaru. He's too heavy for a human like me to carry." Miroku said, smirking.

"Feh! Fine, but don't you try anything funny with her." Inuyasha growled.

**Eastern Kingdom**

"What! Kagome's missing? How?" Kaeda cried. 'Where could she have run off to? She's never been outside the castle's walls…this is all my fault, if I hadn't force her to marry, she wouldn't have left. Gods, if she'll come back, I'll cancel the whole thing.'

"Calm down mother, I'm sure sister is fine." Souta said, petting Kaeda's hand.

"No…no…this can't be happening." Kaeda mumbled in disbelief. "She must be in her room; I'll go get her…" With that, Kaeda stood and proceeded down the corridor to Kagome's room.

"Kagome!" Kaeda cried, throwing open Kagome's bedroom door, only to find it empty, as Souta had said.

"Kagome, you are in here right? You must be…come out now, I get your point, I won't force you to marry Lord Kouga, just…just come out…" Kaeda cried, her whole being shaking, as tears began to fill her eyes.

"This is my entire fault…it's my entire fault…" Kaeda cried, as she slid down to the ground.

"Mother…" Souta whispered, sadden to see his mother in such a state, guilt gnawing away at him.

"Kagome will be back, I know it, so don't cry anymore…"

Kaeda gave him a watery smile, as she hugged him to her.

"You are such a sensible child…" Kaeda cried.

Souta nodded mutely, as he wrapped his arms tighter around the sobbing woman.

"Gods…please let my dear Kagome be alright…" Kaeda managed to choke out before she was completely consumed by her tears.

**Western Kingdom**

"Oi, place her over there; by the window." Inuyasha instructed after placing Sesshoumaru none too gently down on one side of the bed.

Miroku nodded in understanding as he strode over to the other side of the bed.

"Oi, put her down already Miroku!" Inuyasha cried, seeing that Miroku still had Kagome in his arms as he stood by the side of the bed.

"Oooh ok…" Miroku sighed, as he reluctantly places the unconscious girl on the bed.

"Keh, let's go get ourselves some snacks, I'm starving after that match." Inuyasha grumbled.

"Why don't **you** go get the snacks; I'll watch over them." Miroku said all too cheerfully.

"What! Leave you here? No way, you are coming with me. I don't trust you to be around her." Inuyasha stated firmly.

"You are so mean Inu…" Miroku wailed, as he was dragged out of the room by a very determined Inuyasha.

Just minutes after their departure, the two occupants of the room started to stir…

'Where am I? Hmm…so soft, how did I manage to get here?' Kagome thought groggily.

'What was that…I lived?' Sesshoumaru thought, as he tried to come to grasp with his situation.

Both occupants in the room cracked open their eyes, and feeling movement next to them; turned to the source, and end up staring into each others eyes.

Kagome was the first to react; with a loud shriek of "Hentai!" accompanied by a resounding slap to Sesshoumaru's face.

Sesshoumaru growled at the insolent female next to him. 'Who the hell is she? And how dare she hit this Sesshoumaru…' and his hand shot out, tightening around her throat, chocking her.

But just as he tightened his grip around her throat, he felt a similar grip on his own throat; he ignored it at first, but as he tightened his grip on her, the grip on his own throat also tightened, he growled in frustration. Ultimately releasing her completely.

"What sorcery have you been using on me wench." He bit out.

"Wh…what do you mean…I did…N…nothing…" Kagome stammered.

"Don't you dare lie to me…I am not merciful to liars…" and to accentuate his point, he drew his claws across her neck; just enough to draw blood but not deep enough to cause much damage.

To both of their surprise, Sesshoumaru's neck began to bleed too. Sesshoumaru lifted a clawed hand to the warm trickle of blood on his neck, bringing his hand back up; he eyed the crimson liquid nonchalantly.

"See wench, do not deny your use of sorcery further." Sesshoumaru stated.

"I-I don't know how that happened? I swear I didn't do it on purpose…"

"I do not care if it is intentional or not, just fix it this instant before I lose my patience wench." Sesshoumaru threatened.

"But…but…I don't…"

"Wench are you so incapable as to not even have the power to reverse your own spells…you humans are such weak and useless fools, I don't understand why Father even allowed such filth into his castle…" Sesshoumaru growled.

Kagome's mouth dropped open in surprise. 'Who the hell does he think he is, how dare he criticize my kind, that arrogant bastard!' Her aqua blue eyes that were cowering just moments before now blazed with her sudden anger at the taiyoukai before her.

"You jerk! To think that I had risked my life to save your sorry ass… tell me now is that how you thank you savior? And to think that I had thought you were hot… appearance can be so deceiving…" Kagome ground out. 'Oops! Did I just say that he's hot out loud? Damn this is so mortifying…my mouth will lead to my demise one of these days…' Kagome blushed a deep red at her realization.

'Saved my life? She lies; I do not even know her…do I? She does look somewhat familiar…that sorcerer! She looks like Kag, could it be? No, it can't be right…Kag is a male, and this girl is definitely not male…but yet the resemblance…unless…' And then it clicked, Sesshoumaru looked at the blushing girl beside him, his face as expressionless as before, his eyes though, held a spark of amusement. 'She thinks that this Sesshoumaru is hot eh…now that piece of information can be quite useful…'

"So…you think I am hot…" Sesshoumaru said.

"Wh-what…I…that's not the point I mean…" trailed off an exasperated Kagome.

"Well then, what exactly is the point?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Urgh! You…you are enjoying this aren't you…you sadist!"

Sesshoumaru merely smirked, as he lean in closer to her, "So what if I am?" Sesshoumaru all but whispered.

Kagome blushed further at his close-proximity, "Why…yo-you… irritating…youkai…" Kagome stuttered.

"Oh…is that all you can say?" Sesshoumaru asked the smirk still evident on his face.

Just then, Inuyasha and Miroku came bursting into the room. "What the hell happened?"

"Kag, are you ok? I thought I heard you scream." Miroku said, as he rushed to her side.

"Uhmm…I…I am fin…Ai-eee! Hentai!" Kagome cried, simultaneously giving Miroku a resounding slap.

"Miroku…when will you ever learn…" Inuyasha mumbled, shaking his head.

"I'm terribly sorry my lady, my hands have a mind of their own…" Miroku said sheepishly, as he rubs his sore cheek, which is currently spotting a nice red handprint.

"Oi wench, why did you hide your identity anyway?" Inuyasha asked.

"To protect myself from guys like **him**." Kagome replied, staring pointedly at Miroku.

"Eh…heheh…" Miroku shrank back from the look of pure anger directed at him.

"In other words, it is unsafe for a girl such as me to be wandering around alone, so I had to take precautions which is why the disguise." Kagome reiterated.

"What of your background?" Sesshoumaru said in the usual monotone.

"Erm…well…I'll rather not talk about it…let's just say that I am here with no ill intentions what so ever. And, I'll take my responsibilities as a soldier here seriously." Kagome said with a firm nod of her head.

"…" Sesshoumaru stared hard at the girl, trying to detect any hidden malice in her, finding none at the moment, he nodded his consent.

'I'll keep a close watch on this one…I believe there is more to her that meets the eye…besides, she is quite entertaining…' Sesshoumaru thought, as he watches the girl as she chatted away happily with the other two occupants in the room.

Sesshoumaru prop himself up on the bed, catching wisps of their conversation now and then, while decidedly staring out the window.

"Anyway, my real name is Kagome." Kagome said.

"Ahh…a beautiful name for a beautiful lady." Miroku said charmingly, causing a spray of pink to spread through Kagome's cheeks.

'So, her name is Kagome…she looks kind of cute when she blushes.' Sesshoumaru thought, 'What the hell! Did I just think that a filthy human was cute! That dizzy spell must really be taking its toil on me…perhaps its that spell she cast on me…Damn that useless wench! The spell! How could I have forgotten about it, she will find a way to undo it.'

"Wench, come with me. I have things of importance to discuss with you." Sesshoumaru stated coldly, cutting her sentence off mid-way, and dragging her bodily out of the room and into his study.

"Hey! You know you are one rude youkai! And my arm hurts, thanks to you!" Kagome scowled, glaring daggers at the taiyoukai before her.

"Quit your incessant grumbling, or your arm won't be the only one that's hurting." Sesshoumaru stated coolly.

"Ooh…I'm so scared!" Kagome shot back in a mocking tone, and before she knew it, she was pinned to the wall with his iron-grip around her neck.

Fear spiked in her. However, on recalling the fact that he can't harm her without harming himself, she calmed down somewhat, enough for her smart mouth to fire off another comment.

"You need to be more original, grabbing someone by the neck is so last century… And if you do not recall, I'll be happy to remind you that you can't harm me because of the spell."

"…" Sesshoumaru slacken his grip on her neck.

Feeling the grip around her loosen, Kagome gave him a haughty look. "Not so powerful now are we."

Sesshoumaru smirked. Seeing the smirk, Kagome frowned in confusion. Then she felt strong hands gripping her shoulders. Sesshoumaru had dropped his hands from her neck to grip her shoulders, pinning her to the walls still.

"There are more ways than one to torture someone…if hitting you harms me, I could always switch tactics...and do this." Sesshoumaru smirked, as he nuzzled her neck.

Kagome gasped, her instincts kicked in, and she struggled with all her might against his grip.

"Don't bother wasting your energy, you are too weak…" Sesshoumaru whispered into her ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"Let me go you jerk! Or I'll scream. Ahh…" Her screams were cut off by a forceful kiss.

'mhmmm… she actually smells quite nice, very refreshing. And her lips are so luscious…kissing her feels surprisingly good, although she is merely a human.'

Kagome fought against his kiss, but she soon finds herself enjoying it although she still stubbornly refuses to participate.

"Guess that shut you up." Sesshoumaru teased. "You enjoyed it didn't you."

"N-no way! You arrogant…arrogant ass!" Kagome denied.

"Is that so…" Sesshoumaru said, giving her a knowing smile.

'Gods! He looks hot when he smiles…' Kagome mused, 'did I just think that! I am seriously in need of medical aid; if I find a guy that had just forced a kiss on me hot! Damn him! Damn him…damn…'

"Anyway, back to business…the spell you cast, to put it simply, our lives are now tied, if you die or get hurt I too will suffer the same fate…hence you are not to leave my sight ever, I do not want my enemies to harm me through you. I will not have my life forfeited for your lack of survival skills."

"What! You have no right to control my life, and I don't want to stay with an arrogant prick like you 24/7! It'll be a living HELL!" Kagome shouted, more than pissed by his demands.

"You will mind your language wench, and you do not have a say in this." Sesshoumaru growled, slightly angered that she would dare defy him.

"Oh yeah! Watch me! I'm leaving! Bye Fluffy!" Kagome huffed, as she strode purposefully towards the door. She took a few steps forward, but as she was taking her last step to the door, she felt something blocking her path, like some invisible wall.

"What the Hell!" Kagome shrieked, as she tried to walk forwards once more.

Sesshoumaru stood there watching, as Kagome seemed to be walking on the same spot.

'What is that wench doing? Walking on the same spot over and over again… seems she is hindered by some kind of barrier…'

"Remove this stupid barrier now you ass!" Kagome cussed, turning to glare at Sesshoumaru.

"Didn't I tell you to mind your language wench? And that is not of my doing. Do not accuse me of acts I did not commit."

"You didn't do it? Then who…" Kagome asked befuddled.

"It seems to be the workings of the spell that you cast. It appears that the spell agrees with this Sesshoumaru. Guess I have the 'right to control your life' after all." Sesshoumaru smirked.

"Why you…you…" Kagome seethed, at a lose for words.

"Now, you are to train under me for physical combat; as for your miko training, I think Yuri would be most suitable. You will report to her tomorrow at noon; after your lesson with me. She'll be informed of the changes by then."

"What! Train under you? I'll rather die…you can't do this to me!"

"I think I just did."

"Oooh…I hate you! This is your entire FAULT!"

"I do believe you are mistaken, because it is due to the spell that you cast that land you in this situation in the first place. But rest assured that the feelings are mutual."

"Grrr…" Kagome growled.

"Now, I'll like to go take a bath." Sesshoumaru stated calmly, as he strode towards the door. He had almost reached the door when he encountered the same barrier Kagome encountered previously.

"Move it wench, I don't have all day."

Then it hit Kagome that he can't move too if she refuse to budge. "Well, I think the scenery here is just fine, I think I'll stay here longer." Kagome said gleefully.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed. "You will get yourself here this instant…"

"No."

Sesshoumaru growled, as he retraces his steps.

Kagome smiled smugly; that is until she felt strong arms encircle her waist and lift her over onto sturdy shoulders.

"Put me down you Jerk! Put me down!" Kagome shrieked, struggling to get off.

"You will do well to cease and desist this nonsense, else…"

Kagome pouted, but stopped her struggles, as the taiyoukai carried her off towards the baths.

**Authoress: I know this chappy is kinda short, put I thought I'll better post something up first…so how do you guys like the story so far? I really dunno if I should continue writing this ficcy…it is going to be awfully long…and the response didn't seem too well…and for those of you who liked it, I really appreciate it. I'll just have to see how this chappy goes ne? **


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